Dr. John Ragheb, Director of the Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery and Chief of the Department of Surgery at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, has been elected President of the American Society of Pediatric Neurosurgeons (ASPN). The 200-plus member society includes nearly all the senior pediatric neurosurgeons in the US and Canada and is committed to the advancement of the subspecialty of pediatric neurological surgery. The ASPN was established in 1978 to improve the neurosurgical care of the children of the United States and Canada by advancing and advocating the specialty of pediatric neurosurgery and is committed to discovering, defining and delivering the best care for patients with pediatric neurosurgical disease regardless of their age.
Dr. Ragheb obtained his B.A. and M.A. with Honors from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and then went on to the University of Michigan School of Medicine in Ann Arbor. He completed his residency in neurological surgery at the University of Maryland Hospital in Baltimore, and then completed a fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery at New York University Medical Center, Bellevue Hospital in New York City.
Dr. Ragheb is board certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery and the American Board of Pediatric Neurological Surgery. He is currently the Chairman of the Neurosurgery Specialty Committee for the American College of Surgeons. He recently completed a 10-year term as a Director on the American Board of Pediatric Neurological Surgery, five of which he served as the Secretary-Treasurer. Dr. Ragheb has also served on the American Academy of Pediatrics, Section on Neurological Surgery executive committee, including a term as Chair.
“Nicklaus Children’s Hospital is proud to recognize Dr. Ragheb for his unwavering dedication to his profession,” said Matthew A. Love, President and CEO, Nicklaus Children’s Health System. “Dr. Ragheb’s leadership within the pediatric neurosurgical community is a testament to his commitment to care excellence, and putting patients and families first.”
Dr. Ragheb has published scholarly articles on many subjects, including global neurosurgery, traumatic brain injury, and pediatric epilepsy surgery. His areas of clinical interest in addition to the above include hydrocephalus, spina bifida, tethered spinal cord, congenital anomalies of the central nervous system, neuro-endoscopy, tumors of the brain and spinal cord, vascular malformations, Chiari malformations, and craniofacial anomalies.
An extraordinary humanitarian, in 2003 Dr. Ragheb founded a program to treat children with hydrocephalus in Haiti, which has treated over 1,000 children since inception. With the goal of solving the lack of neurosurgical care for Haiti’s population of over 10 million people, the program founded, supports and finances the salary for Haiti’s first neurosurgical training program. Mentorship and teaching are provided by a regular presence of United States and European neurosurgeons, with the vision of a sustainable Haitian run and lead neurosurgical program for all Haitians.
About Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, Where Children Matter Most (2024)
Founded in 1950 by Variety Clubs International, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital is South
Florida’s only licensed specialty hospital exclusively for children, with approximately
850 attending physicians, including more than 500 pediatric subspecialists. The 307-bed
hospital is renowned for excellence in all aspects of pediatric medicine with many specialty programs
routinely ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report since 2008. The
hospital is also home to the largest pediatric teaching program in the southeastern
United States and since 2003 has been designated an American Nurses Credentialing
Center (ANCC) Magnet facility, the nursing profession’s most prestigious institutional
honor. For more information, please visit www.nicklauschildrens.org.